Empty
by ChipmunkFan1000
Summary: Jeanette's life is turned on its head after a freak accident involving her loved ones. Will she cope?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

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**I should begin this story by saying that I have in no way given up on my other story, 'No One For Me', and will be updating it shortly, and also that this story has no connection to my previous ones.**

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_I am but one, standing alone._

_Like a small boat, I float unsteadily upon an endless sea of smiling faces, to whom I say nothing, for not__hing have I to say. I am no different to the others__. Y__et I remain conscious, and they are gone; lifeless; dead,__ I deserve to live no more than they._

My mind was dragged back to the image of my sister, her face bloodied and covered in glass, and my other sibling's unconscious body strewn over the back seat of our family car.

_A car whose family hath been torn into pieces, and thrown into disarray. I was spared for no reason. I cannot deserve to live any more than my sisters did._

Tears began to form in my eyes. My breathing quickened as I grasped the knife, which aforetime had been lying atop the kitchen bench, before which I stood. I raised it, aiming the sharpened blade directly at my pounding heart. My eyes closed and my breathing became uneven.

Suddenly, I gasped, hearkening to the sound of footsteps advancing upon me.

"Jeanette!" I heard the desperation in my mother's voice. "Don't do it!" Her hands extended toward me and she wore a horrified look.

My hand wavered and released the knife. My mother ran to me and wrapped her arms around me. I began to hyperventilate. Tears ran down my face like rivers of loss and regret.

"Why?" I asked between sobs.

"I wish I knew the answer," My mother replied holding me tight, "I wish I knew."

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_**Three days earlier...**_

"Where's my surf board?" Alvin shouted over the ruckus. It was an especially beautiful day, and my sisters had decided to go to the beach. As was to be expected, Alvin decided to tag along, however, he wasn't having much luck finding the things he wanted to bring.

I needed to study for an school exam, and I didn't really like the beach either way; the sand got in my fur, and it was a pain to get it out. Simon and Theodore were as disinterested as I, so Simon and I had decided to stay at home and study together.

"I found it!" Brittany exclaimed, supporting Alvin's surfboard with her knee, "Now we can finally leave." She said sarcastically.

"Alright, girls. Let's go!" Alvin bellowed over-enthusiastically. They walked through the open front door.

"Bye, guys." Eleanor waved as she left the room. If I had known then what would evolve from their innocent decision to take advantage of the weather for the day, I would have fared them well much more meaningfully.

"So Simon, up to whither didst thou arrive previously?" I inquired.

"I was working through the calculus section, or more specifically the unit about integration." He answered, "How about thee?"

"I reached the same unit." I informed him, "We may begin at the first exercise and continue forth from there."

We finished four questions before we heard Dave's voice from the adjacent room.

"Oh my God!" He whispered audibly. Simon and I walked to the other room to see what had happened. The television was running and on the screen was an image of a crinkled car covered with shattered glass from its windows. The car was Dave's.

We all wordlessly packed into Miss Miller's vehicle and drove to the scene of the crash as fast as possible. An ambulance had arrived on the scene and doctors were checking the passengers.

I exited the car and ran to see the people inside. A paramedic tried to stop me, but I pushed her out of the way. I needed to see my sisters.

The sight that greeted me was branded eternally into my memory. My big sister was dead. The doctors could do nothing for her, or Alvin. Eleanor was unconscious but breathing in the back seat.

A hand pulled me away from the horrific spectacle. A firefighter was attempting to remove Eleanor through the car door, which was completely bent and, as a result, could not be opened.

I stood before the car with my mouth open, I was in complete shock. I couldn't believe what was happening around me. Brittany was dead? It couldn't be.

I snapped myself out of my trance. Eleanor was still alive, and there was a chance that she could be saved.

I watched as my little sister was carried into the ambulance upon a stretcher. I caught up to the paramedics.

"She's my sister!" I exclaimed, "I need to go with her."

"We can permit only one family member in the vehicle for moral support." The paramedic looked around, before pulling me up into the ambulance.

"Is she going to be okay?" I asked worriedly.

"We'll do our best, dear." One of the paramedics replied, "She's in pretty bad shape."

I looked back at Eleanor, her breaths were erratic and weak. I held her hand tightly.

"Just hang in there, Ellie." I tried to encourage her to stay alive, "Everything will be fine."

After a minute of watching Eleanor's lungs expand and contract unpredictably, the rising and falling of her chest ceased. I looked on in desperation.

"She's stopped breathing!" I yelled at the paramedics around me.

"Stand clear of the patient, please." I moved away, and waited powerlessly. One shock, and nothing. Two shocks; still nothing.

"Why isn't it working?" I said, my teeth clenched, tears forming in my eyes and fogging my spectacles. The paramedics shocked her twice more, to no avail.

I watched as my sister's face grew empty, a shell which no longer contained the life that once had occupied it. My tears streamed down my cheeks as my face fell upon her inanimate body. I was in complete shock once more. I had just lost both of my dear sisters. I wasn't dreaming. I would never be with either of my dearest siblings again. It was the end for them, and an end for me as well.

I moved not from my sister's side for what seemed an eternity. There would never again be a new page in the lives of my sisters; my poor innocent sisters. With them, the glowing warmth in my heart died.

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**I hope you enjoyed, or at least appreciated my story, for which I may write continuing chapters. If you want to see more chapters, review this story and tell me what you think. This gives me an idea of how many people are interested, and also how to improve my writing. If enough people are interested in the rest of the story, you can expect Simonette romance as the plot progresses.**

**Thank you for reading, and I hope your day is better than Jeanette's.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

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**Sorry about not updating my stories lately, but I've had some issues, and haven't had the time or the inspiration. Feel free to read the first chapter again, if you've forgotten what happened. Anyway, here is the second chapter.**

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I could not fathom that they were truly gone. Brittany; she who had pulled me through all of the difficult times throughout my life, Eleanor; she who had always known how to get things done when I did not, and even Alvin, whose mischief, once which had I loathed, and which now seemed to me missing.

Everything I observed had become a reminder of the people who had once brought happiness and love to our home, and were here no more. What we _did_ have would never be again.

The world was now a dark and frightful place for me, the new me, for without the ones I loved, I could not be the same. I was in a blackened maze, whose only exit seemed cowardly; selfish. All that was left me was to wander aimlessly through it, attempting to refrain from inflicting upon my remaining family pain.

I did have surviving family. My mother was still with me, as was Dave. Simon and Theodore were coping with the loss of their brother, Alvin.

Selfish was I, thinking only of my own kin, when Theodore had lost his brother and his love. Neither had he been himself, since the crash, nor had Simon. Once my mind had been saturated with fantasy, mostly pertaining to marrying Simon. Now those thoughts seemed petty, empty of warmth, empty of what had once filled my heart with envy upon noticing another girl dote on my only love.

_I need be strong, a pillar upon which those whom I love may rest. I must help my family, and be helped by them also._

I wished to see Simon, to know that he was well, and to be with him during this; the darkest time of our lives.

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"I wish I could reassure thee," said he, his arms wrapped around me, "But, if the truth be known, I long for some reassurance for myself."

I perceived him restrain a sob. My eyes became teared as my mind was once more dragged to the day of the incident. I was unable to control the horrific images which were being constantly thrust back into my mind.

I held Simon tighter, as though my so doing would stop him from being taken from me. I felt a lump in my throat.

"Why have I been spared," I asked, sobbing, "What makes me different to them?"

"In no way were we more deserving of life, Jeanette." A rolled down his cheek, "They were in the wrong place at the worst possible time."

I watched Theodore enter the room. He was like a flower, whose petals had shriveled away and died, once brimming with innocent wonder and cheer, now depressed and lonely.

A part of our lives had come to an abrupt and tragic end, and the situation necessitated acceptance, though this made the deed only more difficult.

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The funeral took place after some time, as the episode had been entirely unexpected. I was expected to give my sisters' eulogies, and after great thought, I could not cognize a way to sum their lives in but one small speech.

"I had wished that I would never be called upon to give an oration of this nature." My eyes darted around the crowd.

"But it became necessary so for me to do, upon the unfortunate tragedy which hath befallen my beloved siblings, and which has deeply shocked us all." My face grew warm; I had never liked public speaking.

"My sisters were good people, with promising futures, and we cannot justify forgetting them; we must always remember the wonderful life we have shared with them, of which I am certain they will remain a part." My heart was beating faster than ever before. I felt extremely weak, I was ready to break and cry.

"I will always remember what Brittany said when we were teased in school: 'One day, we'll grow up to be better than they could ever hope to be.'" My vision became less focused. I felt light-headed.

"Now, I feel the need to carry that responsibility, to prove that she was right, at... least... " My sight clouded over, I felt my body lose stability, and blacked out.

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I had fainted from anxiety, of giving the speech which I had so carefully prepared, and reluctantly attempted to express to the crowd which had gathered that day.

Luckily, my mother and Simon had helped me to regain consciousness and _she_ then gave an impromptu eulogy while I slowly composed myself in the arms of Simon.

I was ashamed of myself, I couldn't even give their eulogy without fainting. How could I fulfill the responsibility I had mentioned? I had failed my sisters in so many ways.

"Simon, I didn't want to faint." I cried, "Why did it happen to me? Why could I not show even the smallest respect for Brittany and Eleanor?"

"Thou showed the greatest respect of all, Jeanette," He hugged me, "Thou stood before thy worst fear. That is the most _honorable_ thing to have done."

Simon always had a way to make me feel special, but deep down, I was still traumatized.

"We'll never be the same, will we?" I looked into his blue eyes.

"No. We will not," He replied, "But maybe we can be different, together?"

I smiled, for a moment forgetting that I should be terribly unhappy. Even though our families had been violently torn from us, there was still hope. Simon, Theodore and I had survived. We now carried the torch, and if my sisters were alive, they would be gravely disappointed if we should drop it.

Alone, I float unsteadily, but together, we can escape the storm.

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**Thank you for reading this short story. I hope it resonates with someone out there, who is in a situation like Jeanette's, and possibly even helps them through it.**** Either way, I hope you review, it's the closest I get to talking to you, and I value all of my readers' opinions, so don't hesitate to tell me what you think.  
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**I'm open to creative criticism.  
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**As always, Unhello.  
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